brown-noser

Bootlicking office type

A brown-noser is someone who curries favor through excessive flattery or eager compliance—the image being someone whose nose has been buried in another's backside.

The term is crude but common: The new guy is such a brown-noser, always volunteering for the boss's pet projects.

Related forms include brown-nose (verb) and brown-nosing.

sycophancy

toady

Obsequious flatterer seeking favor

bootlickerServile flatterer of superiors
sycophantServile praise-giver
yes-manUncritical agreeable subordinate

apple-polisher · fawner · lickspittle · flatterer · kiss-up · crawler · groveler · lackey · minion · stooge

behavior

fawning

Excessive insincere flattery

grovelingDemeaning self-abasement before another
obsequiousServilely attentive to superiors
ingratiatingSeeking favor through flattery

servile · unctuous · smarmy · flattering · deferential · toadying · bootlicking · pandering · kowtowing · bowing

Categories

Playground Insultsbaby, brat, crybaby, dummy, dork
smooth talkerssmooth talker, smooth-talker, sweet talker, sweet-talker, fast talker
sycophantssycophant, sycophants, toady, toadies, bootlicker
goody two-shoesteacher's pet, suck-up, do-gooder, saint, angel
hangers-onhanger-on, tagalong, leech, parasite, freeloader
campusdorm, dormitory, dormitories, dorms, quad

Opposites

social behavior toward authority

brown-noserrebel

Authority defier

troublemaker · rabble-rouser · insubordinate · mutineer · agitator

authenticity of respect

brown-noserstraight shooter

Forthright, blunt person

honest broker · truth-teller · straight talker

social boldness/independence

brown-noserfree spirit

Uninhibited, unconventional person

independent thinker · lone wolf · iconoclast · free thinker · rugged individualist

Family

brown, brownish, browned, noses, browning, nosed, browns, browner, nosing

Familiarity: Top 100,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG